Flush-tank outlet valve



1967 M. .1. RAFFERTY FLUSH-TANK OUTLET VALVE Filed June 15, 1965 FIG.

FIG.2

FIG. 4

INVENTOR MART/N J. RAFFERT V ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,345,648FLUSH-TANK OUTLET VALVE Martin J. Rafferty, South Orange, NJ. (524Orange St., Newark, NJ. 07107) Filed June 15, 1965, Ser. No. 464,141 6Claims. (Cl. 467) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cup arrangement appliedto a flush-tank outlet valve temporarily weighted by water from the tankproviding for regulation of bleeding escape of the weighting water aswell as adjustment to regulate depth of water discharged from the flushtank before the valve closes.

A primary object of the invention is provision of an improved flush-tankoutlet valve by which a saving of amount of water used may be effected.

So far as found practical, the present invention utilizes present-dayoutlet valve construction with a minimum of alteration therein topromote the water-saving and other features of this concept.

Basically, the invention proposes an improved adjunct to present-dayflush-tank outlet valves adding to the utility thereof.

More in detail, the invention proposes a selectively adjustablestructure whereby less than a full tank of water is utilizedautomatically when the valve is tripped, but when desired a full tankmay be used for flushing purposes.

The invention also provides a structure whereby after a partial tank ofwater has been passed, the remaining water in the tank may also beautomatically completely flushed.

A further proposal of the invention is to enable its use, when desired,to require constant manual retention of the flush-valve raised from itsseat; automatic operation being suspended in adjusting for this use.

Objectively the invention is of a construction and nature permittingreversion of the flush-tank outlet valve to its original status ofaccomplishment of a full tank flush automatically when water saving isno longer essential.

A structural feature of the invention is to reduce the unseated freedomof the present-day outlet closure element during the flushing operationand obtain a more prompt automatic closing thereof before the tank isempty.

Other objects, advantages, beneficial results and novel structuralfeatures will appear to persons skilled in the art to which theinvention appertains, as the description proceeds, both by directrecitation thereof and by implication from the context.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth in the appended claims. The inventive concept, however, asto its construction and method of operation, together with additionalobjects and advantages, will be better understood from the followingdescription of an arbitrarily selected embodiment when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of a flushing tank outlet valve constructionutilizing the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diametric sectional view of the weightapplying entityutilized as an essential part of the invention, showing one possibleadjustment of parts;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but showing a differentadjustment of parts; and

FIGURE 4 is a plan of the showing of FIGS. 2 and 3.

It will be understood that inlet valves which auto- 3,345,648 PatentedOct. 10, 1967 matically shut off water in-fiow to a flush-tank when thetank is full, are well known and commonly used, where fore the drawinghas not been complicated either by inclusion thereof or by full showingof a flush tank for which line 9 in FIG. 1, representing the bottom ofsuch a tank is deemed adequate for present purposes.

Further usual equipment utilized in ordinary flush-tank constructions,is a hollow outlet valve seat 10 adapted to receive a hollow valveclosure 11 to prevent, when seated, escape of the water from the tank,and permitting flow when lifted for flushing purposes. Associated withsaid outlet, there is the usual upright overflow pipe 12 which isstandard equipment and needs no further description. As a further itemof standard equipment, it may also be pointed out that a trip-handle 13is usually provided at the front of the tank, having operativeconnection with a lever 14 inside the tank, said lever havingappropriate connection, here shown as a. chain 15, for lifting valveclosure 11. Ordinarily in prior practice, the closure is tripped and thehandle is let go, the closure floating above the valve seat therebyallowing an automatic flush of the full tank.

Two brackets 16 are mounted on said over-flow pipe 12 suitably retained,as by set screws 17 in adjusted positions so as to have desiredlongitudinal spacing from each other and from the valve seat. Saidbrackets project laterally from the said pipe 12, and at their outwardlysituated ends are constituted as vertical guides; 18 positioned on acommon axis parallel to said pipe and aligned with the axis of the valveseat 10. Said guides 18 slidably receive a vertical rod 19 the lower endof which is attached, by screw threads or otherwise, coaxially tovalveclosure element 11. The lower one of the brackets has a locationsufiiciently high to permit the closure element to be lifted adequatelyfrom its valve seat 10 to permit out-flow of the water and floating ofsaid element. According to the present showing, a radial arm 20 is shownfixed on rod 19 at the top of the closure element 11 to which chain 15is attached.

According to the arbitrarily selected showing herein of the invention,said rod 19 extends upwardly from the seated valve closure element 11 toapproximately the height of the overflow pipe 12 and the upper one ofsaid brackets 16 is conveniently located near the top of both the pipeand rod so as to guide the rod thereat, and leaves a considerable lengthof said rod between the two brackets. On this intervening length of therod, there is adjustably mounted a control device designated generallyby numeral 21 and which is an essential feature of the invention.

It is preferable to use a light material for said device 21 with aspecific gravity equal to or very close to that of water, so that itwill not of itself add depressing weight to the valve closure element.Said device is made in the nature of a cup, adapted to fill with water,and therefore, when not submerged, but when containing water, willfunction as a weight and will depress the valve closure 11. Thereforethe device, attached to the rod at an elevation of water in the tankwhere shut-off is desired for the flushing operation, protrudes abovethe Water level when the Water has receded therebelow, and thereuponapplies the weight of its contained water to depress the valve closure11.

Normally, with weight applied to the valve closure, the remainingbalance of Water in the tank cannot be automatically flushed, becausethe weight will seat the closure as soon as the user releases thehandle, and so, under these conditions, full flush can be obtained onlyby retaining hold of the handle that holds the valve closure open.According to the present invention, let it first be said that the weightof the device 21 in comparison to the'fioating lift developed by thevalve closure is insuflicient to depress the said closure without theadditional weight supplied by water retained in said cup device. It istherefore a feature of the present invention to discharge the water fromthe cup device after it has served its purpose and thereby condition thevalve closure to again function automatically if lifted a second timeand thereby discharge the balance of the water in the tank withouthaving to continuously hold the handle. According to the specificdisclosure of the drawings, the cup is provided with drain holes 22through which the water may bleed out, said holes arbitrarily beingshown in the bottom wall 23 of said cup. The holes are made small enoughto be sure to retain the water in the cup long enough to assure thewater in the cup serving as the weight depressing the valve closure.There are two factors involved in this bleeding of the water from thecup, namely, (1) the volume or quantity to be bled, and (2) the rate ofbleeding. The invention features control of these factors.

In the specific embodiment of the invention as here disclosed, said cupdevice 21 may comprise a peripheral wall 24 in the form of a ring withinternal screw threads meshing with corresponding threads on theperiphery of the bottom wall 23 so that by screwing the bottom wall upor down in the peripheral wall, the ca acity of the cup can be adjustedto desired or proper amount. Also, rate of flow from the bleed holes 22may be controlled by a regulator adjustable to more or less interferewith escape of the water from the cup. In this disclosure, the regulatoris in the form of a disc disposed beneath the drain holes 22 andadjustable toward and from the same. In FIGURES 1 and 2, the regulatoris shown far enough below the drain holes as to permit free fiow fromthe holes, and thus the number and size of the holes will determine therapidity of discharge, whereas in FIG. 3 no discharge can take place, Atintermediae positions of said regulator, the flow will be more or lessretarded depending upon the closeness of the regulator to the holes.Finally, as a constructional feature, it will be observed that both thebottom wall 23 of the cup device 21 has a threaded mounting on rod 19which is shown threaded for its entire length. Likewise, the regular 25has threaded mounting on said rod. T hus both the cup and the regulatormay be adjusted to the desired positions. The higher the cup ispositioned on the rod, the less will be the amount of water permittedautomatically to be discharged for flushing purposes. Bleeding of thewater from the cup must be retarded sufficiently for the cup to act as aweight to close the flushing valve closure, but prompt enough so that asecond lifting of that closure will permit the closure to again floatand automatically close only when the final full-tank flushing has beenaccomplished. Should the user wish the tank to flush only so long as thevalve closure is manually held, the regulator may be adjusted to thebleed-hole closing position shown in FIG. 3, and the cup and regulatoradjusted to a position below but close to the full-tank water level sothe cup will always be filled and act as a weight as soon as raised bythe manual lifting of the control valve closure 11 by trip handle 13 andfunction to close that valve immediately upon release of the handle bythe user. Complete removal of the cup device 21 will return the Hushmechanism to its original state of giving a full-tank automatic flush bya single lifting of the control valve when saving of water is notimportant. But full automatic flush can be more easily obtained byadjusting bottom wall 23 to the top of side wall 24 so the device thenholds no water and no weight is added.

I claim:

1. An adjunct to flush-tank outlet valves for regulating the depth ofwater discharged from a flush tank before the valve closes comprising acup-shaped control device immersible in the water of a flush-tank, saiddevice being upwardly open for being filled with water upon immersion,said device having drain holes at its bottom adapted to discharge thewater from said device, and a regulator controlling rate of discharge ofwater from said device.

2. An adjunct to flush-tank outlet valves in accordance with claim 1,wherein an upright threaded rod provides screw-thread engagement withand support for said device at adjusted position on said rod.

3. An adjunct to flush-tank outlet valves in accordance with claim 1,wherein an upright threaded rod passes through said device and providesscrew-thread engagement with said regulator enabling the regulator to bevaried in its proximity to said device by rotating said regulator on thescrew-threads of said rod.

4. An adjunct to flush-tank outlet valves in accordance with claim 1,wherein an upright threaded rod passes through and has threadedengagement with both said device and said regulator, enabling the deviceand the regulator to be individually varied in location on said rod andthe regulator adjusted to desired proximity to said device.

5. An adjunct to flush-tank outlet valves in accordance with claim 4,wherein said device provides a peripheral wall threaded on its entireinterior, and a bottom wall threaded at its periphery and in threadedengagement with said peripheral wall, thereby adapted to be located atany desired elevation within said peripheral wall, the said regulatorhaving a diameter less than the interior diameter of said peripheralwall and less than the diameter of said bottom wall and thereby adaptedto enter within said peripheral wall in proximity to said bottom wallwhen at a location within the peripheral wall.

6. In combination with a flush-tank valve closure a means for regulatingthe depth of water discharged from a flush tank before the valve closes,comprising a rod projecting upwardly from said valve closure, a deviceadjustably mounted on said rod, said device being immersible in andemergent from the water in the flush tank, said device when emerged fromthe water applying weight to said valve closure, and said device havingmeans automatically gradually reducing with a controlled delay afteremergence of the device the weight of water applied while immersed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,168,742 8/1939 ONeill et al.457 2,290,679 7/1942 Edes 457 2,668,960 2/1954 Lennard 4--57 3,036,3135/1962 Jenkins 4--57 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN ADJUNCT TO FLUSH-TANK OUTLET VALVES FOR REGULATING THE DEPTH OFWATER DISCHARGED FROM A FLUSH TANK BEFORE THE VALVE CLOSES COMPRISING ACUP-SHAPED CONTROL DEVICE IMMERSIBLE IN THE WATER OF A FLUSH-TANK, SAIDDEVICE BEING UPWARDLY OPEN FOR BEING FILLED WITH WATER UPON IMMERSION,SAID DEVICE HAVING DRAIN HOLES AT ITS BOTTOM ADAPTED TO DISCHAGE THEWATER FROM SAID DEVICE, AND A REGULATOR CONTROLLING RATE OF DISCHARGE OFWATER FROM SAID DEVICE.